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https://hdl.handle.net/2144/11044

Abstract

The purpose of this collective case study was to examine the manner in which teachers delivered content-specific lessons using music as a medium of instruction. All three participants graduated from the Creative Arts and Learning Masters program at Lesley University and received training in their degree programs on the use of music as an instructional tool. Two of the participants had elementary teaching assignments and one taught high school Spanish. All three participants expressed enthusiasm about the use of arts and music-infused techniques in their classrooms and were willing to share both their practical and philosophical approaches to instruction.
Participants exhibited their capacity to teach core subject matter by implementing music-infused instructional strategies across an array of different grade levels. Investigating how teachers applied these techniques, examining their philosophical beliefs and practices regarding integration, and exploring how they prepared and implemented these instructional approaches established a clearer understanding of their professional practice. The central research questions were:
(a) How do participants make use of music-infused techniques?
(b) In what ways, if any, do participants use music-infused techniques?
(c) How are the music-infused techniques that participants use aligned with the Techniques of Music-Infused Instruction (TOMI) inventory scale?
(d) How does the use of music-infused techniques reflect participants' attitudes and beliefs and the training they received?
Data was collected through observation, reflective responses, interviews, and written artifacts to discover how teachers applied instructional styles and techniques reflected in the literature. Patterns of behavior among case study participants revealed practical application of music-infused techniques in their classrooms including subservient techniques, experiential activities, historical, cultural, and thematic approaches to integrated music-infused instruction. The study revealed that TOMI functioned best when taught in a synchronized manner. When teachers focused together on thematic and conceptual ideas that integrated music and art across the curriculum, students developed a deeper understanding of the material through the multiple perspectives they used to explore different academic subjects.